How about that Moon last night??? The third Super Moon is in full effect.

The New Moon seeding of today's Full Moon occurred in Cancer two weeks ago so now it is time for cosmic illumination of our nurturing gifts, time to deliver our creations into the community, and time to consciously create space for the birth of a new way.

Mercury ended his retrograde motion in Cancer on Saturday and is now looking forward to see a whole lot going on.

Goddess of Grace Venus moved into the sign of Virgo and the archetype of the Ceremonial Priestess this morning, but because the signs and constellations no longer line up, Venus can be seen after sunset brushing the heart of the Lion, the magical star Regulus. Let us celebrate the strength of the lioness. Earth and Fire.

Mars conjuncted Jupiter in Cancer last night, slowly making his way between Gaia and Zeus. Will this conjunction bring expansion to the warlike nature of Ares or will the masculine principle find new opportunities as a nurturing father? It is up to us to decide. Let us choose the heart of the lion. Fire and Water.

The Sun moved into Leo a couple of hours ago and the Full Aquarius Moon reached exact solar opposition at 11:17am in Seattle. For me, the Leo-Aquarius Axis always conjures images of the Sphinx.

The Leo Sun will set behind the Sphinx's Lion body this evening as the Aquarius Full Moon rises in front of its human gaze. Perhaps this Full Moon is a dress rehearsal for The Age of Aquarius, which will begin soon when the Sphinx's watchful eyes gaze upon the Vernal Equinox Sun rising in the constellation of the Water Bearer.

If so, we'll have two rehearsals this month because there will be two Aquarius Full Moons. This astrological equivalent of a blue moon (two full moons in the same sign) is rather rare. It is beyond interesting that the sign of Aquarius will also host the next two astrological blue moons, which will occur in 2021 and 2032.

Just what are we rehearsing for? What will the Age of Aquarius bring? The house of the Water Bearer is about expansion of cosmic consciousness; the eagle eye overview represented by Uranus, the Heavens. But Aquarius is also about revolution and new paradigms, better represented by Prometheus who defied the Gods by stealing fire to bring technology to mankind.

Perhaps technology is the key that will unlock the new age. Perhaps free energy will free us from the chains of war and greed. Yes, aquarius is an air sign, but he is the Water Bearer so this technology will not come from the intellect alone. Connecting to our emotional Water will allow us to breathe the Air of Spirit's Fire onto a new Earth.

The Lion sang, "If I only had a heart." Let's give him one and see what happens.

We are called to dive into the emotional depths of self and swim through the holes that holler for hugs. The more we feel, the more we heal. Hold faith that we are held in loving arms of realms above and below, supporting our opportunity to rewrite the rules restricting emotional experience and expression. Masculine and Feminine principles merge to birth an expanded us. Let's embrace ourselves and forward our expansion of the Wholy Trinity. Monkey Suit, Soul, and Spirit unite in loving passion.

Today marks the tightest alignment of the Grand Water Trine between Saturn Scorpio, Pisces Neptune, and Cancer Jupiter. The Moon further activated the Grand Trine last night while passing over Saturn and now Mars is creeping in by approaching exact conjunction with Jupiter in Cancer where Mercury is in the final few days of retrograde motion.

A Trine is a 120 degree aspect between planets and signifies a harmonious, constructive relationship between the two based on understanding or vision. A Grand Trine is an equilateral triangle formed between three planets in Trine aspect to one another. Check out the blue triangles in the attached photo. There are actually two Water Grand Trines going on.

Here are some super short looks at each of the players. I'll be going into much more detail in an upcoming post about the upcoming 7/29/13 Grand Water/Earth Sextile.

Trine 1:Neptune in Pisces - The planet of healing, vision and spirituality is at home in the sign of healing, vision, spirituality, and empathy.

Saturn in Scorpio - The planet of the operating manual is in the sign of deepest felt emotions, passions, and desires.

Jupiter and Mars in Cancer - The planet of opportunity and expansion and the planet of the masculine principle are in the sign of the nurturing mother.

Trine 2:Retrograde Mercury in Cancer - The messenger of mind and medicine traveling backwards through the sign of the nurturing mother.

Chiron in Pisces - The shamanic healer in the sign of healing, vision, spirituality and empathy.

North Node in Scorpio - The forward direction of soul growth in the sign of deepest felt emotions, passions, and desires.

SYNTHESIS - We are called to dive into the emotional depths of self and swim through the holes that holler for hugs. The more we feel, the more we heal. Hold faith that we are held in loving arms of realms above and below, supporting our opportunity to rewrite the rules restricting emotional experience and expression. Masculine and Feminine principles merge to birth an expanded us. Let's embrace ourselves and forward our expansion of the Wholy Trinity. Monkey Suit, Soul, and Spirit unite in loving passion.

With Love from the Octopus' Garden,Astrolonautwww.MoreThanAstrology.com

Ever find it funny that people celebrate the New Moon at night? Why is that funny? Because the New Moon happens every month (every 29.5 days, actually) when the Moon crosses between the Earth and Sun. This means the New Moon is right next to the Sun so it might be better celebrated during the daytime when it's in your sky. Regardless, New Moon nights make for amazing naked-eye astronomy because, of course, there's no moonlight.

I work with the Lunar Cycle by setting attention at New Moon. The idea is that the seed of attention will be illuminated by the Full Moon two weeks later. This New Moon in Cancer will be illuminated by the Full Moon in Aquarius on July 22nd so I set my attention around Cancer seeds and Aquarius illumination. This month's were a little too private to share, but the general idea was explore and surrender to the emotional depths that need nurturing (Cancer) so I can further expand my consciousness and realize a new way of being (Aquarius). Anyone else in the midst of emotional throwdown right now? If you are, seek comfort in knowing you're right on track, that this discomfort will bring opportunity for healing and growth, and that it's about to get easier.

In this first Solar System Scope image, you'll see the Moon directly between Earth and Sun so the side of the Moon facing Earth is entirely in shadow and the "dark side" of the moon is entirely illuminated in sunlight. Turns out the dark side of the moon isn't always dark... it just never faces Earth. That's another story.

Notice also that Mercury is directly between Earth and Sun. The exact Sun-Mercury Conjunction actually occurred today (7/9/13) around noon PST. I guess we could call this New Mercury and it means we're exactly halfway through the current three week Mercury Retrograde cycle. Seems like a good time to talk about Retrogrades.

What the heck does it mean for a planet to go retrograde? If you track a planet during typical direct motion, the planet will appear further east along the ecliptic (path of Sun and Planets outlined by the constellations of the Zodiac) every night. Then something funky happens... the planet seems to be parked in the exact same place for a few days before it starts moving "backwards," appearing further west every night. What happened? This means the planet has gone retrograde, which means... well, first let's look at some pictures of Mercury's recent travels.

Click on the images to make them bigger. The first image is from 6.1.13 when Mercury was just to the west of the Twins. In the second image, Mercury has moved all the way to the west of the Twins by 6.26.13 when it stationed retrograde and started moving back to the west. The third image is from today 7.9.13 when Mercury reached conjunction with the Sun, now near the center of the Twins and still heading west.

The first of these three images is of 7.20.13 when Mercury will station direct and start heading east again. The second image is of 8.1.13 when Mercury will have made its way back to the Eastern side of the Twins where it was before it stationed retrograde. The third image is of 8.19.13 when Mercury's direct motion will have brought it all the way east to the constellation of the Crab.

That's the apparent motion of 80 days of Mercury from Earth. Now let's take a look at those same six dates from space:

Planetary Retrograde Motion is an optical illusion. A good metaphor is that of passing a car on the highway. Even though both cars are moving in the same direction, as you approach the car you're passing it appears to slow down then appears to be moving backwards as you pass. This illusion also holds when a car passes you. A better metaphor is passing a car or being passed by a car on a circular racetrack. Mercury is currently passing Earth in our respective tracks around the Sun. Today, we are dead even.

In the second solar system image above, Mercury is beginning to pass Earth. This is the beginning of the Mercury Retrograde cycle. In the third image, Mercury has reached conjunction with the Sun. That's today (7/9/13). This means Mercury is exactly between Earth and Sun in what I call New Mercury position. In the fourth image, Mercury's pass is complete and it "stations direct" in the sky or appears to be moving naturally, west to east again.

Do Planetary Retrograde cycles really have psychological influence over us? My beliefs are more in line with the idea that planets reflect our internal processes according to the Hermetic wisdom, "As Above, So Below; As Within, So Without." Regardless, if there is indeed a physical mechanism for planetary psychological effects, be it gravitational, electromechanical, or by some force we have not yet "discovered," it would probably make sense that such effects are amplified when the planets are closest to earth. A retrograde cycles occurs when Earth is closest to the planet that appears to be moving backwards.

Mercury orbits the Sun every 88 days, but because we're also orbiting the Sun, it takes about 116 days for Mercury to return to the same position in the Zodiac as seen from Earth. This means Mercury passes Earth 365/116 = 3.15 times annually so we have three Mercury Retrograde cycles every year, each lasting about three weeks. This year, the Mercury Retrograde cycles happen in the water signs. 2/23-3/17 was in Pisces, the current cycle 6/26-7/20 is in Cancer, and the final cycle 10/21-11/10 will be in Scorpio.

If we celebrate New Moons by setting attention, why not celebrate New Mercury in similar fashion? One of the unique gifts of Shamanic Astrology is its teaching around how to work with the Synodic Cycles of Mercury, Venus, and Mars. It would take a whole lot of writing to detail this here and I can't give away our secrets :), but I will tell you that Mercury is currently undergoing it's Pisces synthesis and metamorphosis to Cancer.

It's a time to set attention around your thinking function (Mercury). Allow yourself to continue looking into the watery depths of your emotions. Set your attention around nurturing (Cancer) the many past wounds (Pisces) that have been called to your awareness since February. Set your attention around birthing (Cancer) the many dreams (Pisces) you have dreamt. Perhaps the one will lead to the other.

From the Pressurized Waters of the Deep,Astrolonautwww.MoreThanAstrology.com

I was audibly reminded under the glow of the rockets' red glare just how entirely blessed we are that the the bombs around here are bursting in air and not on the ground. It's crazy we blow up a whole bunch of expensive toys to celebrate independence and absolutely insane that we're taught to believe we can only maintain it by blowing up a whole bunch of human beings.

As the Sun opposed Pluto, illuminating the ongoing evolution of Capricorn through the return of the Sacred Feminine, I meditated on the true Nature of freedom and independence. Revelations were given by Royal Venus who flew by on her Leo throne to share a story from long ago...

************

The blaring of the bugles and howling of the hounds faded behind him as Arthur charged forth. The King's faithful Hengroen was the only steed quick enough to keep pace with the hart he pursued. Just as Arthur's steady chase brought him within bow range, the mystical deer sprung into a briar patch.

The hunter lept from his horse and charged into the thicket after his prey. Arthur burst through to a clearing on the other side, but the hart was nowhere in sight. He was instead greeted by a dark knight who, in the language of the time said, "you're fooked, Arthur."

"Who are you to, sir, to speak in such foul manor to your King and how has he offended you?"

"I am Gromer-Somer Jour and you have unlawfully awarded my family's land to your nephew Gawain. You will pay dearly for believing all in this world is free for the King's taking. Now, prepare yourself for death!"

Sir Gromer rushed forth, sword drawn. Arthur reached for his blade to meet the knight in battle, but the thick branches of the briar had pulled Excalibur from his side. Fortunately, these were the days of chivalry and honor and so the King managed to stop his attacker with words. "Surely, you cannot slay an unarmed man. Any shred of honor you hold will be stripped by such a foul act."

Gromer-Somer knew this to be true, but he had no intentions of letting Arthur off easily and said as much. "I will not release you for your luck alone, Arthur. Since conditions do not allow battle by sword, your life will be bound to your success in a battle of intellect. I will task you with a riddle to solve. You will return to this very clearing twelve months from this day with the answer. You will come unarmed with sword as you are now, but if you are not armed with the answer to my riddle, you will indeed give your life to my blade that day. Agree to these terms or die now."

Clearly, Arthur had no choice to accept. "You have my word as a knight of the Round Table. Now, speak this riddle.

"What does woman want?" inquired Sir Gromer.

"Man, I have no bloody idea! Now stop wasting my time, and tell me the riddle you task me to solve."

"That is the riddle, Arthur... What does woman want?"

Arthur realized he was quite stuffed. Who could possibly know what woman wants? Well, this was certainly not the first time he was up against a seemingly impossible challenge. He would direct the entirety of his burning will to solving this mystery. It probably couldn't hurt his marriage anyway. King Arthur gave promise to return in one year's time and retreated to the briar to collect his sword and return to Camelot.

He spoke only to his nephew Gawain of his perilous meeting with Sir Gromer-Somer Jour. Gawain, who was said to be the finest bachelor of Arthur's Table, joined his King on a year-long search for the answer to this riddle. They travled lands far and wide asking kings and queens, dames, damsels, dudes, maidens, magicians, merchants, and everyone else with ear to hear and tongue to speak, "what does woman want?" They even asked thieves and priests.

They were told many reasonable answers such as "true love," "fame," "undeniable beauty," "puppies!," "power," "purpose," and "eternal youth, " but Arthur knew in his heart, he had not found the solution to the riddle. The last grains of sand appeared to be rapidly descending through the narrows of the hour glass called life, but just as he was near to giving in to the wicked death the fates seemed to have woven for him, a woman named Dame Ragnell rode up and told him she knew the answer that would spare him. It's hard to believe this woman could possibly help. Here's how Venus described her:

Dame Ragnell's face was red and covered with snot, her mouth huge, and all her teeth yellow, hanging over her lips. Her bleary eyes were greater than a ball, and her cheeks were as broad as women’s hips. She had a hump on her back, her neck was long and thick, and her hair clotted into a heap. She was made like a barrel, with shoulders a yard wide and hanging breasts that were large enough to be a horse’s load. She smelled of the sea at low tide. No tongue can tell of the foulness and ugliness of that lady. She could truly make eyes close forever.

"How could this troll of a woman possibly know what woman wants?" thought Arthur, but he was of course willing to entertain anything at this late hour. "Do tell, fair maiden, what is your name and what is the answer that will save me?"

"My name is Dame Ragnell and my answer does not come without a price."

"Name it. Anything in my kingdom shall be yours if I survive to give it."

"I will have the hand of your nephew Sir Gawain in marriage."

Ouch! Arthur pulled his nephew aside and whispered, "Look, man, don't sweat it. There's no way I would do this to you."

Gawain's response brightened Arthur's heart. "My Uncle, ,my King, I love you as much as I love myself. Of course, I will marry this (clears his throat) woman to spare your life."

"Your words lift my soul, young nephew. You are a true knight of the Round Table. I'll tell you what... I will try every other answer we received when I meet Gromer at the clearing tomorrow. If none of those spare my life, I will resort to the words Dame Ragnell gives.

And this is just what happened. Arthur traveled to the briar and walked through to the clearing where Sir Gromer-Somer Jour was waiting for him. "I see you are a man of your word, Arthur. Now, give me the answer to the riddle or give your life instead."

"Not close. That's all you've got?" Gromer waved his sword through the air.

"Purpose, power."

"Perhaps closer to truth, but neither are the word that will spare your life." The knight approached.

"Enjoy your last breath, King Arthur. Now, you die!" The sword cut swiftly through the air, but stopped abruptly as Arthur softly spoke Dame Ragnell's answer...

"Sovereignty."

The knight stood still and speechless for a minute. Then he sheathed his sword in frustration and retreated saying, "you must have met my troll of a sister!"

Arthur returned to Camelot with his head intact, but now of course he knew he must marry his nephew Gawain, the finest bachelor of his Round Table, to Troll Ragnell.

Arthur and Guinevere plotted a super secretive wedding deep in the dark recesses of an unknown cave, but Ragnell was having none of that. "This is a Royal wedding, Arthur, and it will be held in courtly fashion," she said.

So all of camelot was invited, the trumpets trumpeted, the heralds heralded, the wine flowed freely. At the ensuing banquet, Dane Ragnell consumed more than a warrior's share to say the least. She practically snorted barels of wine and inhaled cheese and whole cakes. She lifted a live boar, carved it with her tusks, and swallowed fatty piece after bloddy piece until the entire animal had disappeared into the depths of trolldom. There are many more disgusting details I'll spare you of. Cut to the honeymoon suite...

"Oh Gawain, How about that wedding kiss now," belched Dame Ragnell.

Gawain could hardly look upon her. In fact, he had his back turned, but he mustered all of his honor and strength, all of the bravery and chivalry required for one to earn a seat at the Round Table. He took a deep breath and said, "my bride, I will give you much more than that."He turned to her, opened his eyes, and was utterly astonished to see, standing before him, the most beautiful woman he had ever gazed upon.

Dame Ragnell noticed the shock on his face and looked down upon herself smiling. "Ahhh Gawain, your honor, your chivalry, your bravery has half-released me from my curse. So here's the deal... I can be my true self, the beautiful woman you see before you now half of the time and, the other half, I will take the form of the troll you met. Now husband, it's up to you to decide which by day and which by night.

Gawain wrestled with this decision for quite some time. He could either boost his ego with the pride of carrying the fairest maiden in the land on his arm by day and share his bed with a troll or he could suffer the shame of walking the days with a troll for a wife, but return to this radiant beauty in his bedchambers. The pros and cons of each seemed evenly balanced. He pondered and pondered until his good heart revealed the only correct answer.

"My beautiful wife. I leave it up to you to decide."

Which, of course, released Dame Ragnell from her curse entirely because Gawain had given her...

Sovereignty.

*************

Sovereignty is also the correct answer to the riddle I had tasked myself to solve... "what is the true Nature of freedom and independence?" So many of us have given our sovereignty to kings and priests, to bankers, bosses, and anchormen. "Who will build the roads? Who will stock the markets? Who will keep the lights lit, the water flowing, and the tanks full? Who will protect us from the tear-ists?" we ask as we willingly give our freedom to the force of our adopted fathers.

I believe we will only find true independence, by first realizing un-dependence.

Richard Buckminster Fuller, one of the greatest geniuses to walk the face of this fair Earth, once said, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

I can't say what this new model looks like exactly, but I believe it starts with the declaration of our spiritual sovereignty. We rapidly release ourselves from the chains we once consented to as we purge the pills and poisons and unplug ourselves from that shite being sold as news and entertainment. When we become undependent of the empire, a new model will arise so why vote for the Donkey or the Elephant when you can vote for the Lion?

The Lion is you.

Undependently Yours (okay... working on it),Astrolonautwww.MoreThanAstrology.com